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National Affairs at Home and Abroad. 



SPEECH OF HON. CHARLES SUMNER 



ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY 

OF MASSACHUSETTS, 

HELD AT WORCESTER, SEPTEMBER 22, 1S69. 



Mr. Sumner was selected as President of the Convention. On talking the Chair he 
spoke as follows : — 

Fellow-Citizens of Massachusetts : — While thanking you for the honor con- 
ferred upon me, I make haste to say that, in my judgment, Massachusetts has one 
duty at the coming election to which all local Interests and local questions must 
be postponed, as on its just performance all else dejiends ; and this commanding 
duty Is to keep the Commonwealth now, as aforetime, an example to our country 
and a bulwark of Human Rights. Such was Massachusetts In those earlier days, 
when, on the continent of Europe, the name of " Bostonians " was given to our 
countrymen in arms against the mother country, making this designation embrace 
all, and when, in the British parliament, the great orator, Edmund Burke, 
exclaimed, " The cause of Boston is the cause of all America ; every part of 
America is united in support of Boston ; Boston is the Lord Mayor of America." 
I quote these words from the parliamentary debates. But Boston was at that 
time Massachusetts, and It was her stand for liberty that made her name the 
synonyme for all. And permit me to add that. In choosing a presiding officer, 
entirely removed from local Issues, I find assurance of your readiness to unite 
with me In that National Cause which concerns not Massachusetts only, but 
every part of America, and concerns also our place and name as a nation. 

The enemy here In Massachusetts would be glad to divert attention from the 
unassailable principles of the Republican Party, they would be glad to make you 
forget that support we owe to a Republican Administration ; also that support we 






owe to the measures of reconstruction, and our constant abiding persistence for all 
essential safeguards not yet completely established. These they would hand over 
to oblivion, hoping on some local appeal to disorganize our forces, or, perhaps, 
obtain power to be wielded against the national cause. Massachusetts cannot 
afford to occupy an uncertain position. Therefore, I beglh by asking you to 
think of our country, our whole country, — in other words, of National Affairs 
at home and abroad. 

Security for the Future. 
It is now four years since I had the honor of presiding at our annual Conven- 
tion, and I do not forget how at that time I endeavored to remind you of this 
same national cause then in fearful peril. The war of armies was ended ; no 
longer was fellow-citizen arrayed against fellow-citizen ; on each side the trum- 
pet was hushed, the banner furled. But the defection of Andrew Johnson had 
then begun, and out of that defection tlie Rebellion assumed new life, with new 
purposes and new hopes. If it did not spring forth once more fully armed, it 
did spring forth filled with hate and diabolism towards all who loved the Union, 
whether white or black. There were exceptions, I know ; but they were not 
enough to change the rule. And straightway the new apparition, acting in con- 
junction with the northern Democracy, aboriginal allies of the Rebellion, planned 
the capture of the National Government. Its representatives came up to Wash- 
ington. Then was the time for a few decisive words — in the name of the 
Republic on which for four years they waged bloody war. The great dramatist, 
who has words for every occasion, anticipated this, when he said, — 

"Keturn thee, therefore, with a flood of tears. 
And wash away thy country's stained spots." 

Such a mood would have been the beginning of peace. How easy to see that these 
men should have been admonished frankly and kindly to return home, there to 
plant, plough, sow, reap, buy, sell and be prosperous, but not to expect any 
place in the copartnership of government until there was completest security for 
all. Instead of this, they were sent back plotting how to obtain ascendency at 
home as the stepping stone to ascendency in the nation. Such was the condi- 
tion of things in the autumn of 186.5, when, sounding the alarm from this very 
platform, I insisted upon irreversible guarantees against the Rebellion, and espe- 
cially for security to the. national freedman and the national creditor. It was 
for security that I then insisted, believing that, though the war of armies was 
ended, this was a just object of national care, all contained in the famous time- 
honored postulate of war. Security for the Future, without which peace is no 
better than armistice. 

To that security one thing is needed, — simply this : all men must be safe in 
their rights, so that affairs, whether of government or business, shall have a free 
and natural course. But there are two special classes still in jeopardy, as in the 
autumn of 1865 — the national freedman and the national creditor, — each a 
creditor of the nation and entitled to ])rotection ; each under the guardianship 
of the Public Faith, — and behind these are faithful unionists, now suffering 
terribly from the growing reaction. 



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Constitutional Amendment. 
For the protection of the national freedinan a constitutional amendment is 
C' presented for ratification, placing their right to vote under the perpetual safe- 
guard of the nation ; but I am obliged to remind you that this amendment has 
not yet obtained the requisite number of States, nor can I say surely when it 
will. The Democratic party is arrayed against it, and the rebel interest unites 
with the Democracy. Naturally they go together. They are old cronies. Here 
let me say frankly that I have never ceased to regret — I do now most profoundly 
regret — that Congress, in its plenary powers under the Constitution, especially 
in its great unquestionable power to guarantee a republican government in the 
States, did not summarily settle this whole question, so that it should no longer 
disturb the country. It was for Congress to fix the definition of a republican 
government; nor need it go further than our own Declaration of Independence, 
where is a definition from which there is no appeal. There it is, as it came from 
our fathers, in lofty, self-evident truth, and Congress should have applied it. 
Or it might have gone to the speech of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, where 
again is the same great definition. There was also a decisive precedent. As 
Congress made a Civil Rights Law, so should it have made a Political Rights 
Law. In each case the power is identical. If it can be done in the one it can 
be done in the other. To my mind nothing is clearer. Thus far Congress has 
thought otherwise. There remains, then, the slow process of .constitutional 
amendment, to which the country must be rallied. 

Public Opinion and a Sympathetic Administration. 
But this is not enough. No mere text of Constitution or law is sufficient. 
Behind these must be a prevailing Public Opinion and a sympathetic Adminis- 
tration. Both are needed. The Administration must re-enforce Public Opin- 
ion, and Public Opinion must re-enforce the Administration. Such is all expe- 
rience. Without these the strongest text and most cunning in its requirements 
is only a phantom, it may be of terror as was the case with the Fugitive Slave 
Bill, but not a living letter. It is not practically obeyed ; sometimes it is evaded ; 
sometimes openly set at naught. And now it is my duty to warn you that the 
national freedman still needs your care. His ancient master is already in the 
field conspiring against him. That traditional experience, that infinite audacity, 
that insensibility to Human Rights, which so long upheld Slavery, are aroused 
anew. No longer able to hold him as slave, the ancient master means to hold 
him as dependent and to keep him in his service, personal and political, thus 
substituting a new bondage for the old. Unhappily he finds at the North a 
political party which the Rebellion has not weaned from that unnatural Southern 
breast where it drew its primitive nutriment ; and this political party now frater- 
nizes in the dismal work by which peace is postponed; for until the national 
freedman is safe in Equal Rights there can be no peace. You may call it peace ; 
but I tell you it is not peace. It is peace only in name. Who does not feel that 
he treads still on smothered fires ? Who does not feel his feet burn as he moves 
over the treacherous ashes ? If I wished any new motive for opposition to the 
Democracy, I should find it in this hostile alliance. Because I am for peace, so 
that this whole people may be at work ; because I desire tranquillity, so that all 



4 

may be happy; because I seek reconciliation, so that there shall be conipletest 
harmony, therefore, I oppose the democracy and now denounce it as Disturber 
of the National Peace 

The information from the South is most painful. Old rebels are crawling 
from hiding places to resume their former rule ; and what a rule ! Such as might 
be expected from the representatives of slavery. It is the rule of misrule, where 
the Ku-Klux-Klan takes the place of missionary and schoolmaster. Murder is 
unloosed. The national freedman is the victim and so is the unionist. Not one 
of these States where intimidation with death in its train does not play its part. 
Take that whole southern tier from Georgia to Texas, and add to it Tennessee, 
and, I fear, North Carolina and Virginia also — for the crime is contagious — and 
there is small justice for those to whom you owe so much. That these things 
should occur under Andrew Johnson was natural ; that reconstruction should 
encounter difficulties after his defection was natural. The great English moral- 
ist — another Johnson — did not wonder that a dog in chains danced no better, 
but that it danced at all ; and I do not wonder that reconstruction with the chains 
upon it succeeded no better, but that it succeeded at all. Andrew Johnson is 
now out of the way, and in his place a patriot President. Public Opinion must 
come to his support in this necessary work. There is but one thing these dis- 
turbers feel ; it is power ; and this they must be made to feel ; I mean the power 
of an awakened people, directed by a Republican Administration, vigorously, 
constantly, surely, so that there shall be no rest for the wicked. 

Repudiation. 

If I could forget the course of the Democracy on these things, as I cannot, 
there Is still another chapter for exj^osure, and the more it is seen the worse it 
appears. It is that standing menace of repudiation, by which the national credit 
at home and abroad suffers so much, and our taxes are so largely increased. It 
will not do to say that no national Convention has yet announced this dishonesty. 
I charge it upon the party. A party which repudiates the fundamental princi- 
ples of the Declaration of Independence — which repudiates Equality before the 
Law — which repudiates the self-evident truth that governn^ent is founded only 
on the consent of the governed, — which repudiates what Is most precious and 
good in our recent history — and whose chiefs are now engaged in cunning assault 
upon the national creditor — is a party of repudiation. This is its just designa- 
tion. A democrat is a repudiator. What Is slavery itself but an enormous 
wholesale repudiation of all rights, all truths, and all decencies ? How easy for 
a party, accepting this degradation, to repudiate pecuniary obligations? These 
are small compared with the other. Natui'ally the Democracy is once more in 
conjunction with the old slave-masters. The repudiation gospel, according to Mr. 
Pendleton, is now preaching In Ohio; and nothing is more certain than that the 
triumph of the Democracy would be a fatal blow not only at the national freed- 
man, l)ut also at the national creditor. There would be repudiation lor each. 

The word "repudiation," in its present sense. Is not old. It first appears in 
Mississippi, a democratic State intensely devoted to slavery. If the thing were 
known before, never before did it assume the same hardihood of name. It was 
in 1841 that a Mississippi Governor, in a message to the legislature, used this 



word with regard to certain State bonds, and thus began that policy by which 
Mississippi was first dishonored and then kept poor ; for capital was naturally 
shy of such a State. Constantly, from that time, Mississippi had this " bad em- 
inence ; " nor is the State more known as the home of Jefferson Davis than as 
the home of repudiation. Unhappily the nation suffered also ; and even now, 
as I understand, it is ai-gued in Europe, to our discredit, that, because Mississippi 
repudiated, the nation may repudiate also. If I refer to this example, it is be- 
cause I would illustrate the mischief of the democratic policy and summon Mis- 
sissippi to tardy justice. A regenerated State cannot afford to bear the burden 
of repudiation; nor can the nation and the sisterhood of States forget miscon- 
duct so injurious to all. 

I have pleasure at this point in reference to an early effort in the " North 
American Review," by an able lawyer, for a time an ornament of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, Hon. B. R. Curtis, who, after reviewing the miscon- 
duct of Mississippi, argues most persuasively that, where a State repudiates its 
obligations to the detriment of foreigners, there is a remedy through the national 
government. This suggestion is important for Mississippi now. But the article 
contains another warning applicable to the nation at the present hour, which I 
quote : — 

" The conduct of a few States has not only destroyed their own credit and left their sister 
States very little to boast of, but has so materially affected the credit of the whole Union, 
that it was found impossible to negotiate in Europe an}' part of the loan authorized by Con- 
gress in 1842. It was offered on terms most advantageous to the creditor; terms which in 
former times would have been eagerly accepted; and after going a begging through all the 
Exchanges of Europe, the agent gave up the attempt to obtain the money in despair." — 
[" North American Review '''for January, 1844, Vol. 58, j). 150. 

As the fallen drunkard illustrates the evils of intemperance, so does Mississippi 
illustrate the evils of repudiation. Look at her. But there are men who would 
degrade our republic to this wretched condition. Forgetting what is due to our 
good name as a nation at home and abroad; forgetting that the public interests 
are bound up with the Public Faith, involving all economies, national and indi- 
vidual ; forgetting that our transcendent position has corresponding obligations, 
and that, as nobility once obliged to great duty — noblesse oblige — so does repub- 
licanism now, — there are men who, forgetting all these things, would carry our 
republic into this terrible gulf, so full of shame and sacrifice. They begin by 
subtle devices ; but already the mutterings of open repudiation are heard. I 
denounce them all, whether device or muttering, and I denounce that political 
party which lends itself to the outrage. 

Repudiation is Confiscation. 
Repudiation mean confiscation, and, in the present case, confiscation of the 
property of loyal citizens. With unparalleled generosity the nation has refused 
to confiscate rebel property ; and now it is proposed to confiscate loyal property. 
When I expose repudiation as confiscation, I mean to be precise. Between two 
enactments, one requiring the surrender of property without compensation, and 
the other declaring that the nation shall not and will not pay an equal amount 
according to solemn promise, there can be no just distinction. The two are alike. 



6 

The, former might alarm a greater number, because on its face more demon- 
strative. But analyze the two, and you will see that in each prirate property is 
taken by the nation without compensation and appropriated to its own use. 
Therefore do I say repudiation is confiscation. 

Dkvices. 

A favorite device of repudiation is to pay the national debt in greenbacks — in 
other words, to pay bonds bearing interest with mere promises not bearing in- 
terest, violating, in the first place, a rule of honesty, which forbids such a trick, 
and, in the second place, a rule of law which refuses to recognize an inferior 
obligation as payment of a superior. Here in plain terms is repudiation of the 
interest and indefinite postponement of the principal. This position, when first 
broached, contemplated nothing less than an infinite issue of greenbacks flooding 
the country, as France was flooded by assignats, and utterly destroying values of 
all kinds. Although in its present more moderate form it is limited to payment 
by existing greenbacks, yet it has the same radical injustice. Interest-bearing 
bonds are to be paid with non-interest-bearing bits of paper. The statement of 
the case is enough. Its proposer would never do this thing in his own aflfairs, but 
how can he ask his country to do what honesty forbids in private life ? 

Another device is to tax the bonds when the money was lent on the positive 
condition that the bonds should not be taxed. This, of course, is to break the 
contract in another way. It is repudiation in another form. 

Extra Interest Caused by Devices of Repudiation. 

To argue these questions is happily unnecessary, and I allude to them only 
because I wish to exhibit the loss to the country from such attempts. This can be 
made plain as a church door. 

The total debt of our country on the 1st September, aside from the sixty mil- 
lions of bonds issued to the Pacific Railway, was i$2,475,962,501 ; and here I 
mention, with great satisfaction, that since the 1st March last the debt has been 
reduced $19,500,000. The surplus revenue now accruing is not less than 
$100,000,000 a year, and will be, probably, not less than .|125,000,000 a year, 
of which large sum not less than $75,000,000 must be attributed to the better 
enforcement of the laws and the economy now prevailing under a Republican 
Administration. And here comes the practical point. Large as is our surplus 
revenue, it should have been more, and would have been more but for the repu- 
diation menaced by the Democracy. 

If we look at our bonded debt, we find it is now $2,107,936,300, upon which 
we pay not less than $124,000,000 in annual interest, the larger part at six per 
cent., the smaller at five per cent. gold. The difference between this interest 
and that paid by other Powers is the measure of our annual loss. English three 
per cents and French fours are firm in the market ; but England and France 
have not the same immeasurable resources that are ours ; nor is either so secure 
in its government. It is easy to see that our debt could have been funded with- 
out paying more than four per cent., but for the doubt cast upon our credit by 
the dishonest schemes of repudiation. " Payment in greenbacks " and " taxation 
of bonds" are costly cries. Without these there would have been $40,000,000 



annually to swell our surplus revenue. But tins sum, if invested in a sinking 
fund at four per cent, interest, would pay the whole bonded debt in less than 
thirty years. Such is our annual loss. 

The sum total of this loss directly chargable upon the repudiators is more than 
one hundred millions, already paid in taxes; and much I fear, fellow-citizens, 
that before the nation can recover from the discredit inflicted upon it, another 
hundred millions will be paid in the same way. It is hard to see this immense 
treasure, wrung by taxation from the toil of the people, to pay these devices of a 
dishonest Democracy. Do not forget that the cost of this experiment is confined 
to no particular class. Wherever the tax-gatherer goes there it is paid. Every 
workman pays it in his food and clothing ; every mechanic and artisan in his 
tools; every housewife in her cooking stove and flat-iron; every merchant in 
the stamp upon his note; every man of salary in the income tax ; aye, every 
laborer in his wood, his coal, his potatoes, and his salt. Many of these taxes im- 
posed under duress of war, will be removed soon, I trust ; but still the enormous 
sum of forty millions annually must be contributed by the labor of the country 
until the world is convinced that in spite of democratic menace, the republic will 
maintain its plighted faith to the end. 

People wish to reduce taxation. I tell you how. Let no doubt rest upon the 
Public Faith. Then will the present burdensome ta.xation grow " fine by degrees 
and beautifully less." It is the doubt which costs. It is with our country, as with 
an individual, the doubt obliges the payment of extra interest. To stop that extra 
interest we must keep faith. 

Absurdity axd Aggravation'. 

As we look at the origin of the greenback we shall find a new motive for fidfel- 
ity. I do not speak of that patriotic character which commends the national 
debt; but of the financial principle on which the greenback was first issued. It 
came from the overruling exigencies of self-defence. The national existence 
^depended upon money, which could be had only through a forced loan. The 
greenback was the agency by which it was collected. The disloyal party resisted 
the passage of the original act, prophesying danger and difficulty. But the 
safety of the nation required the risk and the Republican Party assumed it. And 
now this same disloyal party, once against the greenback, insist upon continuing 
in peace what was justified only in war — insist upon a forced loan, when the 
overruling exigencies of self-defence have ceased, and the nation is saved. To 
such absurdity is this party now driven. 

The case is aggravated when we consider the boundless resources of the coun- 
try, through which in a short time even this great debt will be lightened, if the 
praters of repudiation are silenced. Peace, financially as well as politically, is 
needed. Let us have peace. Nowhere will it be felt more than at the South, 
which is awakening to a consciousness of resources unknown while slavery ruled. 
With these considerable additions to the national capital, five years cannot pass 
without a sensible diminution of our burdens. A rate of taxation per capita, 
equal to only one-half that of 1866, will pay even our present interest, all pres- 
ent expenses, and the entire pi-incipal in less than twenty years. But to this 
end we must keep faith. 



Repudiation Impossible. 

The attempt is aggravated still further, when it is considered that repudiation 
is impossible. Try as you may, you cannot succeed. You may cause incalculable 
distress and postpone the great day of peace, but you cannot do this thing. The 
national debt never can be repudiated. It will be paid, dollar for dollar, in coin, 
with interest to the end. 

How little do these repudiators know the mighty resisting power which they 
encounter! How little the mighty crash which they invite! As well undertake 
to move Mount Washington from its everlasting base, or shut out the ever pres- 
ent ocean from our coasts. It is needless to say that the crash would be in pro- 
portion to the mass affected, being nothing less than the whole business of the 
country. Now, it appears from investigations making at this moment by Com- 
missioner Wells, whose labors shed such light on financial questions, that our 
annual product reaches the sum of seven thousand millions of dollars. But this 
prodigious amount depends for its value upon exchange, which in turn depends 
upon credit. Destroy exchange, and even these untold resources would be an 
infinite chaos, without form and void. Employment would cease, capital would 
waste, mills would stop, the rich would become poor, the poor, I fear, would 
starve. Savings banks, trust companies, insurance companies would disappear. 
Such would be the mighty crash ; but here you see also the mighty resisting 
powei'. Therefore, again do I say, repudiation is imposssble. 

Mr. Boutwell is criticized by the Democracy because he buys up bonds, paying 
the current market rates, when he should pay the face in greenbacks. I refer 
to this democratic criticism because I would show how little its authors look to 
consequences while forgetting the requirements of Public Faith. Suppose the 
secretary, yielding to these wise suggestions, should announce his purpose to take 
up the first ten millions of five-twenties, paying the face in greenbacks. What 
then? " After us the deluge," said the French king; and so, after such notice 
from our secretary, would our deluge begin. At once the entire bonded debt 
would be reduced to greenbacks. The greenback would not be raised ; the bond 
would be drawn down. All this at once, — and in plain violation of the solemr^ 
declaration of both Houses of Congress pledging payment in coin. But who can 
measure the consequences ? Bonds would be thrown upon the market. From 
all points of the compass, at home and abroad, they would come. Business 
would be disorganized. Prices would be changed. Labor would be crushed. 
The fountains of the great deep would be broken up and the deluge would 
be upon us. 

National Banks and Specie Payments. 
Among the practical agencies, to which the country owes much already, are 
the national banks. Whatever may be the differences of opinion with regard to 
them, they cannot fall to be taken into account in all financial discussions. As 
they have done good where thej' are now established, I would gladly see them 
extended, especially at the South and West, where they are much needed, and 
where abundant crops already supply the capital. It is doubtful if this can be 
done without removing the currency limitation in the existing bank act. In this 
event I should like the condition that for every new bank note issued a green- 



back slioiald be cancelled, thus substitutiiifj the bank note for the greenback. 
In this way greenbacks would be reduced in volume, while currency is supplied 
by the banks. Such diminution of the national paper would be an important 
stage toward specie payments, while the national banks in the South and West, 
founded on the bonds of the United States, would be a new security for 
the national credit. In making this suggestion, I would not forget the necessity 
of specie payments at the earliest possible moment, nor can I forbear to declare 
my unalterable conviction, that by proper exertion this supreme object may be 
accomplished promptly, always provided the national credit is kept above sus- 
picion, or, like the good knight, " without fear and without reproach." 

Public Faith. 
Thus, fellow-citizens, at every turn are we brought back to one single point, 
the Public Faith, which cannot be dishonored without infinite calamity. The 
child is told not to tell a lie ; but this injunction is the same for the full-grown 
man, and for the nation also. We cannot tell a lie to the national freedman or 
the national creditor ; we cannot tell a lie to anybody. That word of shame 
cannot be ours. But falsehood to the national freedman and the national cred- 
itor is a national lie. Breaking promise with either, you are dishonored, and liar 
must be stamped upon the forehead of the nation. Beyond the ignominy, which 
all of us must bear, will be the influence of such a transgression in discreditinnf 

o 

republican government and the very idea of a republic. For weal or woe, we 
are an example. Mankind is now looking to us, and just in proportion to the 
eminence we have reached is the eminence of our example. Already we have 
shown how a republic can conquer in arms, offering millions of citizens and 
untold treasure at call. It remains for us to show how a republic can conquer 
in a field more glorious than battle, where all these millions of citizens and all 
this untold treasure uphold the Public Faith. Such an example will elevate 
republican government, and make the Idea of a republic more than ever great 
and splendid. Helping here, you help not only your own country, but help 
humanity also; help liberal institutions in all lands; help the down-trodden 
everywhere, and all who struggle against the wrong and tyranny of earth. 

The brilliant Frenchman, Montesquieu, in that remarkable work which occu- 
pied so much attention during the last century, the Spirit of Laics, pronounces 
hoiinr the animating sentiment of monarchy ; but virtue the animating sentiment 
of a republic. It is for us to show that he was right ; nor can we depart from 
this rule of virtue without disturbing the order of the universe. Faith is nothing 
less than a part of that sublime harmony by which the planets wheel surely in 
their appointed orbits, and nations are summoned to justice. Nothing too lofty 
for its power ; nothing too lowly for its protection. It is an essential principle 
in the divine Cosmos, without which confusion reigns supreme. All depends 
upon faith. Why do you build ? Because you have faith in those laws by which 
you are secured in person and property. Why do you plant? Why do vou 
sow ? Because you have faith in the returning seasons, faith in the generous 
skies, faith in the sun. But faith in this republic must be fixed as the sun, 
which illumines all. I cannot be content with less. Full well I see that every 
departure from this great law is only to our ruin, and from the height we have 
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10 

reached, the tumble will be like that of the Grecian god from the battlements of 
Heaven : — 

" From morn 

To noon he fell ; from noon to dewy eve — 

A summer's day, and with the setting sun 

Dropt from the zenith, Uke a falling star." 

It only remains, come what may, that we should at all hazards preserve this 
Public Faith, — never forgetting that honesty is not only the best policy but the 
golden rule. For myself, I see nothing more practical at this moment than, 
first, at all points to oppose the Democracy, and, secondly, to insist that yet a 
while longer ex-rebels shall be excused from copartnership in government. Do 
not think me harsh ; do not think me austere. I am not. I will not be outdone 
by anybody in clemency ; nor at the proper time will I be behind any one in 
opening all doors of office and trust. But the proper time has not yet come. 
There must be security for the future, unquestionable and ample, before I am 
ready, and this I would require, not only for the sake of the national freedman 
and the national creditor, but for the sake of the country, containing the inter- 
ests of all, and also of the ex-rebel himself, whose truest welfare is in that 
peace where all controversy shall be extinguished forever. In this there is 
nothing but equity and prudence according to received precedents. The 
ancient historian declares that the ancestors of Rome, the most religious of men, 
took nothing from the vanquished but the license to do wrong — majores nosiri, 
religiosissimi mortales, nihil viclis eripiehant prmler injurice licenliam. (Cat. Bell, 
cap. 12.) These are the words of Sallust. I know no better example for our 
present guidance. Who can object if men recently arrayed against their 
country are told to stand aside yet a little longer until all are secure in their 
rights? Here is no fixed exclusion, — nothing of which there can be any just 
complaint, — nothing which is not practical, wise, humane, — nothing which is not 
born of justice rather than victory. In the establishment of Equal Rights con- 
quest loses its character, and is no longer conquest ; — 

"For then both parties nobly are subdued, 
And neither party loser." 

Even in the uncertainty of the future it is easy to see that the national freed- 
man and the national creditor have a common fortune. In the terrible furnace 
of war they were joined together, nor can they be separated until the rights of 
both are fixed beyond change. Therefore, could my voice reach them, I would 
say — " Freedman, stand by the creditor ; creditor, stand by the freedman." 
And to the people I would say, " Stand by both." 

Foreign Affairs, 
From affairs at home I turn to affairs abroad, and here I wish to speak 
cautiously. In speaking at all I break a vow with myself not to open my lips 
on these questions except in the Senate. I yield to friendly pressure. And yet 
I know no reason why I should not speak. It was Talleyrand who to somebody 
apologizing for what might be an indiscreet question, replied that an answer 
might be indiscreet, but not a question. My answer shall at least be frank. 



11 

In our foreign relations there are with me two cardinal principles which I have 
no hesitation to avow at all times ; first, peace with all the world, and secondly, 
sympathy with all strujjgling for Human Rights. In neither of these would I 
fail, for each is essential. Peace is our all-conquering ally. Through peace 
the whole world will be ours. " Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace," and 
there is nothing we cannot do. Filled with the might of peace, the sympathy we 
extend will have a persuasive power. Following these plain principles, we 
should be open so that foreign nations shall know our sentiments, and in such 
way that even where there is a difference there shall be no just cause for offence. 

Relations with Spain. 

In this spirit I would now approach Spain. Who can forget that great historic 
monarchy, on whose empire, encircling the globe, the sun never set ? Patron of 
that renowned navigator, through whom she became the discoverer of this hemis- 
phere, her original sway within It surpassed that of any other Power. At last 
her extended possessions on the main, won by Cortez and PIzarro, loosed them- 
selves from her grasp, to take their just place in the Family of Nations. Cuba 
and Porto Rico, rich islands of the Gulf, remained. And now Cuban Insurgents 
demand independence also. For months they have engaged in deadly conflict 
with the Spanish Power. Ravaged provinces and bloodshed are the witnesses. 
The beautiful island, where sleeps Christopher Columbus, with the epitaph that 
he gave to Castile and Leon a new world, Is fast becoming a desert, while the 
nation to which he gave the new world is contending for its last possession there. 
On this simple statement two questions occur, first, as to the duty of Spain, and 
secondly, as to the duty of the United States. 

Unwelcome as It may be to that famous Castllian pride, which has played so 
lofty a part In modern Europe, Spain must not refuse to see the case in Its true 
light ; nor can she close her eyes to the lesson of history. She must recall how 
the thirteen American colonies achieved Independence against all the power of 
England — how all her own colonies on the American main achieved indepen- 
dence against her own most strenuous efforts — how at this moment England is 
preparing to release her northern colonies from their condition of dependence ; 
and recalling these examples, It will be proper for her to consider if they do not 
illustrate a tendency of all colonies, which was remarked by an illustrious 
Frenchman, even before the Independence of the United States. Never was 
anything more prophetic In politics than when Turgot, in 1750, said : " Colonies 
are like fruit, which hold to the tree only until maturity — when sufficient to them- 
selves, doing what Carthage did, what some day America will do.'" These most 
remarkable words of the philosopher-statesman will be found in his Discourse at 
the Sorbonne ; and now for their application. lias not Cuba reached his con- 
dition of maturity ? Is it not sufficient for Itself? At all events, is victory over 
a colony contending for Independence worth the blood and treasure it will cost ? 
These are serious questions, which can be answered properly only by putting 
aside all passion and prejudice of empire, and calmly confronting the actual con- 
dition of things. Nor must the case of Cuba be confounded for a moment with 
our wicked rebellion, having for its object the dismemberment of a republic to 
found a New Power, with slavery as its vaunted corner-stone. For myself, I can- 
not doubt that, In the interest of both parties, Cuba and Spain, and in the in- 



12 

terest of humanity also, the contest should be closed. This is my judgment on 
the facts, so far as known to me. Cuba must be saved from its bloody delirium, 
or little will be left for the final conqueror. Nor can the enlightened mind fail 
to see that the Spanish Power on this island is an anachronism. The day of 
European colonies has passed — at least in this hemisphere, where the rights of 
man were first proclaimed and self-government first organized. A governor 
from Europe, nominated by a crown, is a constant witness against these funda- 
mental princi2)les. 

As the true course of Spain is clear, so to my mind is the true course of the 
United States equally clear. It is to avoid involving ourselves in any way. 
Enough of war have we had without heedlessly assuming another ; enough has 
our" commerce been driven from the ocean without heedlessly arousing another 
enemy ; enough of taxation are we compelled to bear without adding another 
mountain. Two policies were open to us at the beginning of the insurrection. One 
was to unite our fortunes with the insurgents, assuming the responsibilities of such 
an alliance with the hazard of letters of marque issued by Spain and of public 
war. I say nothing of the certain consequences in expenditure, and in damages 
A Spanish letter of marque would not be less destructive than the English Ala- 
bama. The other policy was to make Spain feel that we Avish her nothing but 
good, and that, especially since the expulsion of her royal dynasty, we cherish 
for her a cordial and kindly sympathy. It is said that republics are ungrateful, 
but I would not forget that, at the beginning of our revolutionary struggle, our 
fathers were aided by her money, as afterwards by her arms, aud that her great 
statesmen, Florida Blanca, by his remarkable energies determined the organiza- 
tion of that armed neutrality in Northern Europe which turned the scale against 
England, — so that John Adams declared, " We owe the blessings of peace to 
the armed neutrality." I say nothing of the motives by which Spain was then 
governed. It is something that in our day of need she lent us a helping hand. 

It is evident that, adojDtlng the first policy, we should be powerless, except as 
an enemy. The second policy may enable us to exercise an important influence. 

The more I reflect upon the actual condition of Spain, the more I am satisfied 
that the true rule for us is non-intervention, except in the way of good oflices. 
This ancient kingdom is now engaged in comedy and tragedy. You have heard 
of Hunting the. Slipper. The Spanish comedy is Hunting a King. The Spanish 
tragedy is sending armies against Cuba. I do not wish to take part in the com- 
edy or the tragedy. If Spain is wise she will give up both. Meanwhile we have 
a duty which is determined by International Law. To that venerable authority 
I repair. AVhat that prescribes I follow. 

Recognition of Belligkrence. 
By that law, as I understand it, nations are not left to any mere caprice. 
There is a rule of conduct which they must follow, subject always to just accoun- 
tability where they depart from it. On ordinary occasions there is no question ; 
for it is with nations as with individuals. It is only where the rule is obscure or 
precedents are uncertain, that doubt arises, as with some persons now. Here I 
wish to be explicit. Belligerence is a " fact," attested by evidence. If the 
" fact " does not exist, there is nothing to recognize. The fact cannot be in- 
vented or imagined; it must be proved. No matter what our sympathy, what 



13 

the extent of our desires, we must look at the fact. There may be insurrection 
without reaching this condition, which is at least the half-way house to indepen- 
dence. The Hungarians, when they rose against Austria, obtained no such 
recognition, although they had large armies in the field, and Kossuth was their 
governor; the Poles, in repeated insurrections against Russia, obtained no such 
recognition, although the conflict made Europe vibrate ; the Sepoys and Rajahs 
of India failed also, although for a time the English empire hung trembling ; 
nor, in my opinion, were our slave-mad rebels ever entitled to such recognition ; 
for, whatever the strength of the Rebellion on land, it remained as in the case of 
Hungary, of Poland, of India, without those Prize Courts which are absolutely 
esaential to recognition by foreign powers. A cruizer without accountability to 
Prize Courts is a lawless monster, which civilized nations cannot sanction. There- 
fore the Prize Court is the condition precedent; nor is this all. If the Cuban in- 
surgents have come within any of the familiar requirements, I have never seen 
the evidence. They are in arms, I know. But where are their cities, towns, 
provinces ? Where their government ? Where their ports ? Where their tri- 
bunals of justice ? and where their Prize Courts ? To put these questions is to 
answer them. How then is the " fact " of belligerence ? 

There is another point in the case which is with me final. Even if they come 
within the prerequisites of international law, I am unwilling to make any recog- 
nition of them so long as they continue to hold human beings as slaves, which I 
understand they now do. I am told that there was a decree in May last, pur- 
porting to be signed by Cespedes, abolishing slavery ; then I am told of another 
decree in July, maintaining slavery. There is also the story of a pro-slavery 
constitution to be read at home, and an anti-slavery constitution to be read 
abroad. Nor is there any evidence that any decree or constitution has had any 
practical eifect. In this uncertainty I shall wait, even if all other things are pro- 
pitious. In any event there must be Emancipation. 

On the recognition of belligerence there is much latitude of opinion — some 
asserting that a nation may take this step whenever it pleases ; but this preten- 
sion excludes the idea that belligerence is always a question of fact on the evi- 
dence. Undoubtedly an independent nation may do anything in its power 
whenever it pleases; but subject always to just accountability, if another sufiers 
from what it does. This may be illustrated in the three different cases of war, 
independence, and belligerence. In each case the declaration is an exercise of 
high prerogative, inherent in every nation, and kindred to that of eminent do- 
main ; but a nation declaring war without just cause becomes a wrong-doer ; a 
nation recognizing independence where it does not exist in fact, becomes a 
wrong-doer ; and so a nation recognizing belligerence where it does not exist in 
fact, becomes a wrong-doer also. Any present uncertainty on the latter point I 
attribute to the failure of precedents sufficiently clear and authoritative ; but 
with me there is one rule in such a case which I cannot disobey. In the absence 
of any precise injunction, I do not hesitate to adopt that interpretation of inter- 
national law which most restricts war, and all that makes for war — believing 
that in this way I shall best promote civilization and obtain new security for 
international peace. 



I 



14 

Rklations with England. 

From the case of Spain I pass to tlie case of England, contenting myself with 
a brief explanation. On this subject I have never spoken except with pain, as 
I have been obliged to expose a great transgression. I hope to say nothing now 
which shall augment difficulties, although, when 1 consider how British anger 
was aroused by an effort in another place, judged by all who heard it most pa- 
cific in character, I do not know that even these few words may not be misinter- 
preted. 

There can be no doubt that we received from England incalculable wrong — 
greater, I have often said, than was ever before received by one civilized power 
from another short of unjust war. I do not say this in bitterness, but in sadness. 
There can be no doubt that, through English complicity, our carrying trade was 
transferred to English bottoms ; our foreign commerce sacrificed, while our loss 
was England's gain ; our blockade rendered more expensive, and generally that 
our war, with all its fearful cost of blood and treasure, was prolonged indefinitely. 
This terrible complicity began with the wrongful recognition of rebel belligerence, 
under whose shelter pirate ships were built and supplies sent forth. All this was 
at the very moment of our mortal agony, in the midst of a struggle for national 
litie, and it was done in support of rebels whose single declared object of separ- 
ate existence as a nation was slavery, being in this respect clearly distinguisha- 
ble from an established Power where slavery is tolerated without being made the 
vaunted corner-stone. Such is the case. Who shall fix the measure of this 
great accountability ? For the present it is enough to expose it. I make no 
demand, — not a dollar of money — not a word of apology. I show simply what 
England has done to us. It will be for her, on a careful review of the case, to 
determine what reparation to offer. It will be for the American people, on a 
careful review of the case, to determine what reparation to require. On this 
head I content myself with the aspiration that out of this surpassing wrong and 
the controversy it has engendered, may come some enduring safeguard for the 
future, some landmark of humanity. Then will our losses end in gain for all, 
while the Law of Nations is elevated. But I have little hope of any adequate 
settlement until our case, in its full extent, is heard. In all controversies 
the first stage of justice is to understand the case; and, sooner or later, England 
must understand ours. 

The English arguments, so far as argument can be found in the recent heats, 
have not in any respect impaired the justice of our complaint. Loudly it is said 
that there can be no sentimental damages, or damages for wounded feelings, and 
then our case is dismissed as having nothing but this foundation. Now, without 
undertaking to say that there is no remedy in the case suppo.sed, I wish it under- 
stood that our complaint is for damages traced directly to England. If the 
amount is unprecedented, so also is the wrong. The scale of damages is natur- 
ally in proportion to the scale of operations. Who among us doubts that these 
damages were received ? Call them what you please, to this extent the nation 
lost. The records show how our commerce suffered, and witnesses without num- 
ber testify how the blockade was broken and the war prolonged. Ask any of 
our great generals — ask Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, Meade, Burnside — ask 
Grant. In view of this transcendent wrong, it is a disparagement of interna- 



15 

tional law to say that there is no remedy. An eminent English judge once pro- 
nounced from the bench that " the law is astute to find a remedy ;" but no astute- 
ness is required in this case — nothing but simple justice, which is alwa}s the 
object of a true diplomacy. How did the Nation suffer? To what extent? 
These are the practical questions. No technicality can be set up on either side. 
Damages are damaf/es, no matter by what artificial term they may be character- 
ized. Opposing them as consequential shows the disposition to escape by techni- 
cality, even while confessing an equitable liability, — since England is bound for 
all the consequences of her conduct, — bound under International Law, which is 
a Law of Equity always, and bound, no matter how the damages occurred, 
always provided they proceeded from her Because the damages are national, 
because all suffered instead of one, this is no reason for immunity on her 
part. 

Then it is said, why not consider our good friends in England, and especially 
those noble working men who stood by us so bravely ? We do consider them 
always, and give them gratitude for their generous alliance. They belong to 
what our own poet has called " the long nobility of toil." But they are not 
England. We trace no damages to them, nor to any class, high or low, but to 
England — corporate England, through whose government we suffered. 

Then, again, it is said, why not exhibit an account against France ? For the 
good reason that, while France erred with England in recognition of rebel bellig- 
erence, no pirate ships or blockade-runners were built under shelter of I his 
recognition to prey upon our commerce. The two cases are wide asunder, and 
they are distinguished by two different phrases of the common law. The recog- 
nition of rebel belligerence in France was damnum absque injuria, or wrong 
without injury ; but that same recognition in England was damnum cum injuria, 
or wrong with injury, and it is of this unquestionable injury that we complain. 

Canada. 

Fellow citizens:— It cannot be doubted that this great question, so long as it 
continues pending, will be a cloud ah-'ays upon the relations of two friendly 
Powers, when there should be sunshine. Good men on both sides should desire its 
settlement, and in such way as most to promote good will, and make the best prec- 
edent for civilization. But there can be no good will without justice, nor can 
any " snap judgment " establish any rule for the future. Nothing will do now 
but a full inquiry without limitation or technicality and a candid acceptance of 
the result. There must be equity, which is justice without technicality. Some- 
times there are whispers of territorial compensation, and Canada is named as 
the consideration. But he knows England little, and little also of that great 
English liberty from Magna Charta to the Somersett case, who supposes that this 
nation could undertake any such transfer. And he knows our country little, 
and little also of that great liberty which is ours, who supposes that we could re- 
ceive such a transfer. On each side there is impossibility. Territory may be 
conveyed, but not a people. I allude to this suggestion only because appearing 
in the public press it has been answered from England. But the United States 
can never be indifferent to Canada, nor to the other British provinces, near 
neighbors and kindred. It is well known, historically, that even before the 




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Declaration of Independence our fathers hoped that Canada would take part 
•with them. Washin<;ton was strong in this hope ; so was Franklin. 

The Continental Congress, by solemn resolution, invited Canada, and then 
appointed a Commission, with Benjamin Franklin at its head, " to form a Union 
between the Colonies and the people of Canada." In the careful instructions of 
the Continental Congress, signed in their behalf by John Hancock, President, 
the commissioners are, among other things, enjoined to remind the Canadians 
that " it is our earnest desire to adopt them into the Union as a sister colony, 
and to secure the same general system of mild and equable laws for them and 
ourselves, with only such local differences as may be agreeable to each colony 
respectively," and further, that in the opinion of the Continental Congress, 
"their interest and ours are inseparably united." (^^ American Archives, vol. 
V, p. ^12, iih series.) Long ago the Continental Congress passed away, living 
only in its deeds. Long ago the great Commissioner rested from his labors to 
become a star in our firmament. But the invitation survives not only in the 
archives of our history, but in all American hearts, constant and continuing as 
when first issued, believing as we do, that such a union, in the fulness of time, 
with the good will of the mother country and the accord of both parties, must be 
the harbinger of infinite good. Nor do I doubt that this will be accomplished. 
Such a union was clearly foreseen by the late Richard Cobden, who in a letter 
to myself, bearing date, London, 7th November, 1849, wrote : — " I agree with 
you that nature has decided that Canada and the United States must become one 
for all purposes of intercommunication. Whether they also shall be united in 
the same Federal Government must depend upon the two parties to the union. 
I can assure you that there will be no repetition of the policy of 1776 on our 
part to prevent our North American colonies from pursuing their interests in 
their own way. If the people of Canada are tolerably unanimous in wishing to 
sever the very slight thread which now binds them to this country, I see no 
reason why, if good faith and ordinary temper be observed, it should not be done 
amicably." Nearly twenty years have passed since these prophetic words, and 
enough has already taken place to give assurance of the rest. "Reciprocity," once 
established by treaty, and now so often desired on both sides, will be transfigured 
in Union, while our Plural Unit is strengthened and extended. 

The end is certain ; nor shall we wait long for its mighty fulfilment. Its begin- 
ning is the establishment of peace at home, through which the national unity 
shall become manifest. This is the first step. The rest will follow. In the pro- 
cession of events it is now at hand, and he is blind who does not discern it. 
From the frozen sea to the tepid waters of the Mexican gulf, from the Atlantic 
to the Pacific, the whole vast continent — smiling with outstretched prairies, 
where the coal-fields below vie with the infinite corn-fields above — teeming with 
iron, copper, silver and gold — filling fast with a free people, to whom the tele- 
graph and steam are constant servants — breathing already with schools, col- 
leges and libraries — interlaced by rivers which are great highways — studded 
with inland seas where fleets are sailing, and " poured round all old Ocean's " 
constant tides, with tributary commerce and still expanding domain, — such 
will be the Great Republic, one and indivisible, with a common Constitution, 
a common Liberty, and a common Glory. 



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